|
Surat Thani
Surat Thani is the provincial capital of Surat Thani Province.
Understand
Surat Thani is a gateway to the islands of Thailand's eastern coast: Ko Samui, Ko Tao (great for scuba diving), and Ko Pha Ngan. Though large it has a low density of 7-Elevens and so on. There are many Chinese temples.
Get in
By plane
Surat Thani airport is located about 20 km west of the city in Phunphin district. AirAsia flies daily between Bangkok and Surat Thani. Thai Airways also has daily flights from and to Bangkok.
the website thaiairwaysusa.com can be a good place to find reasonable DMK (bangkok) to URT (surat thani) flights.
By train
The Surat Thani train station, despite its name, is located in Phunphin, about 12km away from Surat Thani. Most comfortable are the overnight trains from Bangkok, which arrive in early morning. There are always many who try to catch the tourists and sell them trips to Surat or the islands directly - usually the most aggressive sellers are the most expensive...
By bus
The new bus terminal is located a bit outside the city, however if you plan to go directly into the city it's usually possible to ask for a stop before. The old bus terminal in middle of city is now only frequented by the some private buses, which are however much more risky than the government buses.
By boat
You can take the ferry from any of the islands nearby, taking about an hour. There is food on board and movies as well.
Get around
When you get off the ferry there is a bus ride included with the trip (note the strange system of paper tickets combined with circular stickers that you stick on your shirt). It is a 45 minute bus ride down backroads from the ferry terminal to Surat Thani. More than one ferry terminal services Sarat Thani.
See
Being here is different than for most cities, as the residents here are used to seeing foreigners but don't bother with trying to sell things to foreigners for a living. Most tourists here are just passing through to the islands, as there are no real attractions within the city.
A popular place for picnic as well as for sports is Ko Lamphu, a small car-free island in the river Tapi, connected by bridge to the city at the city pillar shrine. A nice view is the riverfront, built as a promenade. In the evening hours there are also some food stalls there, however the night market concentrates at a sidestreet next to Wat Sai.
There are several Buddhist as well as Chinese temples within the city, however none really notable. To the north is the Roman Catholic St.Raphael Cathedral, actually a small wooden church.
Outside the city, there is a monkey training centre near by in Kanchanadit. The hill Khao Taphet south of the city offers a great view over the city, as well as a the Si Surat chedi as some billboards with...
|
